I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a serious problem where certain patients in psychiatric institutions try to commit suicide by hanging themselves with cords looped over the tops of doors to their rooms; the invention pertains to methods and apparatus seeking to prevent such attempted suicides.
II. Background and Prior Art
It is known that certain patients in psychiatric institutions try to commit suicide by various different means. Reasons for such behavior are complex and not the subject of the present invention; however, significant numbers of suicide attempts do occur, and significant numbers of patients are committed into these institutions for the very reason that they are known to be candidates for suicide attempts and these institutions are supposed to be environments for treatment of these and other problems and for prevention of patients from achieving suicide.
While the methods employed for the attempted suicides vary with the available environment and the creativity of the patients, the present invention is concerned with suicide attempts by hanging with a cord where the patient forms the distal or remote end of the cord into a knot or other enlargement, then drapes the cord over the top of his or her door with the knot on the far side, and then closes the door which restrains the distal end. The near or proximal end of the cord is used in the expected way about the patient's neck.
In typical psychiatric institutions the patients' activities, as regards personal safety and behavior in general, are monitored carefully by staff; however, it is also common for patients to have private rooms with unlocked doors for them to come and go generally as they please. It is in these kinds of situations where a patient has periods of relative privacy and domain over his or her door, when a suicide attempt can be made without immediate awareness by institution staff, and with enough time for the suicide to be successful before staff action can be taken. For various reasons there are surprisingly high numbers of attempted and successful suicides in mental institutions that are not generally publicized or known, but administrators of these institutions are quite aware and concerned. The present invention addresses these tragedies and presents a practical apparatus believed to be able to significantly reduce the problem on a nationwide basis.
Prior art documents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,893,854 and 4,186,954 and 4,005,890 disclose known structures of door latch assemblies, particularly including door strike plates and latch bolts.